Silly Avery

Well the morning dawned and we were on day 2 of our new morning routine - update:

Lillie slept until 7!
Avery slept passed 7 (which is truly amazing)
Isaiah woke up earlier than 8, but stayed on his bed reading books which allowed...
Huston to sleep past 8:00!

Much, much better - let me tell you.

When Avery came out of his room - this is the sight I beheld (I censored it of course)

I guess he took it upon himself to get stripped down - guess he knew he would be changing clothes anyway.

Huston showed a bit of 'tude when he came down for breakfast - he thought I stiffed him with the syrup for his waffles...

He reminded me of Scout on "To Kill a Mockingbird" - when Jem was bugging her too hurry up and eat her breakfast or she was going to be late for school (yes, I've seen the movie so many times I have these scenes etched into my brain).

But anyway he snapped out of it pretty quickly (he's like his mommy remember - just needs his space in the morning!)

Anyway I am very pleased so far - hopefully the effect won't wear off and we can make this a permanent routine.

Blew Me Away

Today out of the blue, Isaiah tells me "I want to be a Christian..." I asked him what he thought that meant and he answered that he wants to "tell everybody about Jesus." I wasn't expecting this at all. Then he said that he "wants to be a Christian or a singing minister" :o) like the two things aren't the same...pretty cute that one.

So anyway I talked to him a bit about what the Bible says concerning accepting God's great gift and when I was finished he asked "so when can I be baptized?" Wow, I wasn't anticipating fielding that question so early. We'll be visiting with him some more and having him talk with others to see if he really understands what kind of decision he's making...but I am sure excited that he really wants to follow God! He's always been a sensitive guy.

New Organization

I think anyway...and no the book still has not shown up (so don't get to hopeful with my organization strategies).

One of the problems (many problems) that has been plaguing me lately is that my children all rise before the sunshine - all except Huston, my sweet sleeping one, the child whose pattern of sleep matches mine the very closest. He would sleep in almost every morning if he didn't feel he had to keep up with the early birds.

I am a mess in the morning - forget rising before the kids - especially since Lillie has been rising at about 5-5:30 consistently for way too long now. I am lucky to rise with my kids there is no hope for before. So when my slow to wake up personality meets my energizer bunny (especially Avery) type children it almost always creates a perfect storm of grumpy mommy, grumpy children that will often times set the tone for the rest of the day.

So here is my most current solution. I have given each of the older boys a crate of books for them to keep at their bedside. When they wake up they are to stay in bed reading until their music alarm goes off at 8:00am. Only when the music begins to play are they allowed to come downstairs and begin bombarding me with stories, requests, and questions.

Today was the dry run. It worked out pretty good. I was able to clean the kitchen, get breakfast ready and allow my body to wake up enough to really truly be happy to see my kids come down the stairs. So far the only glitch is that Avery doesn't get it and I have to shoo him back to his room multiple times - but he did sleep longer this morning simply because the house was quiet. Also I know that Lillie will eventually be on a different schedule - but I can handle one or two kids first thing in the morning - I can't handle all 4 - my mind/body just isn't ready!

Just so you know I have been notorious for establishing a new routine for a week only to fall back into old habits - so we will see how long this lasts, but I am hoping - truly hoping/praying for a solution to such early mornings.

A Failing Grade

I think I lost the activity book for Isaiah's school stuff. We are on week 2 and I've already lost it...I must have left it at the library last night - called over there and they haven't seen it. booger. Kind of sums up they way I've felt lately - on the verge of organization but missing a huge piece of the puzzle. And these 5am-10pm days don't help...

So the only hope I have is that my mother-in-law accidentally took it home with her - she was helping me do my errands last night, otherwise I will have to shell out the dough for yet another book - ugh! Mom gets an F in the home-school grade book.

GG's Day

On Sunday we had a family reunion - and since the whole family was together and since my Grandma turns 80 this year - we made it into a surprise birthday party for her too...even though her birthday isn't until December. This seemed to confuse her greatly - but the chances of the whole family getting together in the winter months are slim to none.

Here's GG with the cake she stumbled upon to ruin the official surprise - she can be quite a snoopy nose...

Here is G.G. (short for Great-Grandma, by the way - she chose that name cause its easier for our kids to say) with her birthday goodies...

This was a little dangerous of us, but it worked out without any huge problems...the whole gang of boy cousins together at one table for lunch - its always hard to get a group shot of these guys - too bad we couldn't get everyone's faces, but this is about as still as we've ever had them.

Here is the majority of the first cousins/aunts, uncles that are left on that side of the family, it's my dad's mom's side...dad is the third one from the left in the back row and his mom of course is GG...the gal in the middle on the couch is my great-great Aunt Ruth - she is over 90 and a fun gal to be around.

Here is a photo of my other great-great Aunt, Robbie and her husband Burton - they actually are related by a bit of a different branch of our tree, but they are really about the only ones left on that branch so they come for these get-togethers too.

I had everyone fill out a questionnaire about their history (significant dates and memories) that we could make into a book for the family. I found out through that questionnaire that Aunt Robbie and Uncle Burton will be married for 70 years in September. That means my grandma was 10 when they got married! We should have had a special cake for them too!

Anyway, fun was had by all, and I was glad to see so many folks there. We don't see most of them very often. Here is a final picture my sister-in-law Brook took of me with my brother Jason and GG. Try not to blind yourself from my very white knees! :o)

Independence Day Photos

Lillie's first Independence Day - wearing her red, white and blue...












Cookin' out at Papa's and Grandma's...
















The whole family together for this great day...














After supper the boys started waiting for night to come so Uncle Daniel could shoot of the fireworks...we entertained ourselves in the down time by lighting snakes and shooting the breeze as well as a few gross of bottle rockets! I kind of felt like a true redneck family.



















Lillie had fun talking to Daddy - he seemed to be able to speak her language - she likes him pretty good.













The snakes didn't stay snakes for very long...Avery would crush them until he was becoming snake colors himself...














See his lovely snake skin?



















The luxury of having grandparents that live outside city limits is that when the 4th of July rolls around we can have fun with more than the sparklers and snakes...

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

And finally - the most fun part of Independence Day for kids - the sparklers...
We had a lot of fun - any excuse to blow something up for a family of mostly men is a good day around here.

Strange Boy Games

The boys asked to go outside to ride bikes - they start off doing this, but never for very long. I always peek out there to check on them and find them involved in some other sort of craziness. Check out what they ended up doing today.














This is Avery chasing his brothers with a butterfly net on his head. (Don't you love his out-stretched monster arms?) He kept saying he was a dinosaur - why a dinosaur needs a net on his head I do not know.





















But once again, that's Avery.

Some Updates

I'll start with the oldest and work my way down...

Isaiah is starting his school year - we are starting early so that we can take our time and if something comes along that distracts or derails us for awhile it won't be that big of a deal. We are using Susan Wise Bauer's Story of the World curriculum as our backbone...

It came with a great activity book that gives you additional titles to use for reference and reading and also a boo-coo of activity ideas. The introduction basically goes over how all this historical information is gathered and talks about the science of archeology a bit so today one of our activities was to simulate an archaeological dig. I buried things in his sandbox last night after he had gone to bed and created a grid so that he could go and dig them up. He didn't know what he was going to find. It was a bit challenging because the sand was so wet from the endless rain we seem to be getting.















Here is a snap shot of his artifacts...we looked through them and talked about what someone might guess about us if they found these in the dirt way off in the distant future.

(Of course I had to add a Sonic straw - that says a lot about me unfortunately :o)

Huston is struggling - I don't have a photo of him because the last couple of days he has had so many fits that a photo would not be very flattering. I think he is transitioning into becoming the middle man again since Isaiah has returned. I also think he is very tired. But I really can not stand the constant selfish behavior and whining and complaining, etc. etc. I am re-reading a book that was very helpful to me when Isaiah was going through this, and since I retain so very little of what I read I am being reminded of some great tangible steps to hopefully help Huston (and me) get through this rocky bit. The book is called "Good and Angry: Exchanging Frustration for Character in You and Your Kids."
It has helped me quite a bit. It is very Biblical based, so if that's not your angle be forewarned, but I think it lays out some really great common sense type stuff that helps you know how to calmly handle the stuff that your children dish out. Its put out by the Center for Effective Parenting.

Avery is a handful as usual. He loves to draw and sing and torment Huston. Here is a clip of him singing a song for me the other night...sorry, he wouldn't do it for the camera unless I sang along. He was singing a song that teaches the fruit of the spirit (Gal. 5:22-23)...

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Lillie is doing all things that babies do - at this age all you have to do to update folks is post a few pictures right. So here you go - Lillie after a bath. I propped her in the sink after her bath last night so she could just lounge around without a diaper for awhile, avoiding the risk of a mess and avoiding the high energy of her brothers. She is discovering her hands and feet and ears...and she loves to chew on fabric - you know blankets, burp rags, whatever she can get in her mouth.




















I like this picture - look at how she's studying those feet...and no wonder, look how wrinkly they were.





















Finally, here she is chomping on that towel.


So other than that I am hoping that my husband finally is able to be home on time and that I will be allowed to get away for a bit - even if it is to do grocery shopping because we are out of every fresh thing you can think of. I would so love a grocery store that delivered.

Speechless

Enjoy a Nuk - or two...

Day Three

Day three of "single motherhood." Steven has had something to keep him away from home each night this week. It is a bit unusual for him to be away so much - but every once in awhile everything seems to hit on the same week. It hasn't been terrible, but when your day starts with kids waking up at 5:30, like it did this morning, bedtime seems an eternity away.

The kids really haven't been overly draining, I'm just tired. I put in an 18 hour day on Sunday and the effect is sneaking up on me - I got a lot of stuff done around here at the house, but I'm paying for it now.

Isaiah returned home last night and we are very glad to have him back. He had a lot of fun meeting new family and seeing some sights - like Niagara Falls! He came back with a renewed level of patience for his siblings which I hope will last longer than a day and a half. He also came with gifts for his brothers and they are all anxious to play together. I already warned them last night that they would have a large rest time this afternoon.

Well, gotta go - Avery just informed me that his milk "crashed" - and I see a trail of it following him out of the dining room - seems to me that he has a leaking cup - let the day begin...